


To Help and Never Harm

by Anrheithwyr



Series: Love Letters to Shifting Lines [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Shifting Lines - DovahTobi
Genre: Fluff, Gen, just wanted to write something happy, young Pomfrey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27319573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anrheithwyr/pseuds/Anrheithwyr
Summary: Poppy Pomfrey has always wanted to be Healer. She has sworn an oath to care for any student who comes to Hogwarts, no matter who they are or what their situation might be.
Series: Love Letters to Shifting Lines [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948861
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	To Help and Never Harm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DovahTobi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DovahTobi/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Shifting Lines - Book One](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20043763) by [DovahTobi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DovahTobi/pseuds/DovahTobi). 



> Another one-shot inspired by Shifting Lines.

Poppy had always known she wanted to go into the branches of magic that dealt with healing, even when she was still a Hogwarts student too young to be preparing for a career path. Potions-making and conjuring were well and good, but there was nothing quite like taking a broken arm or a swollen nose and making it right once more. 

She was a _nurse_ , a Healer, and knew that one day her career would take her right back here - to Hogwarts. 

The school, her home for seven wonderful years, was in need of a caring hand, someone to oversee the many incidents that occurred every school year - students falling off of brooms, explosions in the Potions lab, hexes in the hallway. The Matron who had served during her time was a competent witch to be sure, but she simply had no bedside manner to speak of, no way with words when speaking to the younger students.

As she grew older, pouring through every book on healing that she could find, Poppy found herself hanging around the Hospital Wing more and more, not for her own injuries - for Poppy was a rather careful sort of person who rarely even came down with so much as a cold - but to step in and assist the Matron where she saw fit.

The Matron, who was old and close to retirement by Poppy’s Fifth Year, seemed more than willing to accept her help, often stepping back to allow the girl to take over entirely, watching as Poppy rushed back and forth, doling out potions or coming back with new spells she’d found in the most recent medical texts.

When it came time to sit her OWLs and her NEWTs, Poppy Pomfrey could tell you the healing properties of every plant in Herbology, could tell you how to reset a fracture using fifteen different spells, and had even published in _Magical Maladies_ in her Seventh Year about a new technique to ease the symptoms of Spattergroit. She was hopeless at Astronomy and struggled greatly with any sort of Switching Spells, but that was fine by Poppy.

She was going to be a _Healer_ , after all, and what areas she needed to be an expert in, she certainly was. There were few that could argue that she was not going into her career as prepared as she could be and then some.

At eighteen, she had gone through the necessary training through Saint Mungo’s to become a fully certified Healer, which was one of the few truly trustworthy places to achieve such a title. She flew right through her courses, coming top of the class of interns, and had her pick of departments to consult with, though it came as little surprise to anyone who knew her when she chose family medicine on the second floor, though she found herself just at home on the first floor when called upon to assist with creature-induced injuries. 

After all, Poppy would need to have knowledge about treating burns and stings for students who were taking Care of Magical Creatures or had a particularly aggressive Defence professor in any particular year.

But she made herself known in those immediate days as someone who worked hard and long hours, often the first to come in and the last to leave, spending sometimes in excess of twelve hours in various wards, often having to be escorted back to her flat by her fellow medical students when it became clear she was too tired to carry on any further.

She put in her three years of training, though, and received her qualifications exactly as she’d hoped - Healer Poppy Pomfrey. At that point, it was just a matter of dedicating herself to her duties and biding her time.

The Hogwarts Matron would retire eventually and Poppy knew that she was more than qualified for the position when the time came.

It was only a few years later that an owl arrived at her door, belonging to Pomona, who was only two years ahead of Poppy in school but already working as an assistant professor in the Herbology department at Hogwarts.

_Dear Poppy,_

_I hope this letter finds you well and in good health. I thought you would be interested in knowing that the position of Matron here at Hogwarts is currently open and in need of filling. I know that you were not overly fond of the previous Matron, but I have it on good authority that she had spoken rather highly of your skills as a student and I have no doubt you will be hearing from Headmaster Dippet rather soon._

_Missing you dearly,_

_Pomona_

And then, as she was finishing the letter, a second owl arrived at her window, flying through the still open frame and dropping an envelope onto the kitchen table, her address written in quite familiar handwriting, for it was the same one that had written to her over the summer of every school year with updates to the text lists - one Deputy Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

_To: Poppy Pomfrey_

_Hello - to whom it may concern,_

_The following letter enclosed is in regards to a recent opening on the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We are currently seeking applicants to fill the position of Matron for the upcoming school year due to the retirement of the previous Matron. It has come to my attention, through recommendations of current staff member Pomona Sprout and the exeunt Matron that you are highly prized in the field of Healing and we have reached out to several of your colleagues at Saint Mungo’s to confirm this._

_It is on these appraisals that I am reaching out to offer you the opportunity to come in and interview for the position of Matron if you are so interested in doing so. The current Headmaster, Armando Dippet (Order of Merlin, Second Class) is seeking to complete this process before the end of the summer holidays and it is on this recommendation that I suggest that, should you be interested, you would reach out to my office before the end of the month one way or another so that we can proceed._

_Warmest regards,_

_Deputy Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin (First Class), Grand Sorc., D. Wiz., X.J., S. of Mag.Q_

Of course, she wrote back right way; the position was hers within the month, and thus began what Poppy considered to be the true beginning of her life. 

X

Poppy had been back at Hogwarts for only a few short years, though it already felt as though she’d been here her entire life. She felt entirely at home in the Hospital Wing, which had an office for her that contained a hidden passage leading to her own private quarters a reasonable walk from the Hospital Wing so that she could pop in at a moment’s notice if needed; there was a mirror hanging on the wall near her door that could call up an image of her workspace with a simple spell and which would flash brightly if there were ever any students brought in while she was away.

Professor Dippet had retired a year into her career and Professor Dumbledore quickly took over, taking the opportunity to push for lovely Pomona to take over full-time as the Herbology professor and even bringing on a woman roughly eight years Poppy’s senior to run the Transfiguration Department named Minerva McGonagall.

The three women, being of relatively similar age and upbringing, quickly became fast friends even outside of work and on calmer nights, they found it quickly became a habit to sit in Minvera’s private quarters and sip Butterbeer and discuss whatever came to their minds at the moment, from current politics to Quidditch - which Minerva was quite intense about - to the antics of various students. 

It was because of this closeness that Poppy was not entirely shocked to look up one day and see Minerva standing in the doorway of the Hospital Wing. It was the end of the term and most of the students were busy in their dorms packing things up and chasing down lost items at the last minute before the train came to collect them tomorrow morning. Thankfully, the number of injuries this close to departure were usually fairly low and relatively mild - a bump or bruise here and there, easily treated and sent away in a few minutes’ work.

“Oh hello, Minerva,” she said pleasantly, stepping from her office to see that it was not the troublesome First Year Gryffindor boys she’d suspected were waiting for her. “What brings you here? I’d think you were sweeping the dorms for any last-minute trouble-makers.”

It was then that she noticed the tartan hat in her colleague’s hands, being twisted rather violently as Minerva stepped further inside to reveal, just a few steps behind, was the Headmaster himself, Albus Dumbledore.

She looked between the two with some confusion; Minerva’s presence was not unheard of and more than welcome, but currently, the Transfiguration professor looked nervous and on edge. As for Dumbledore, well, he very rarely came by the Hospital Wing except in very serious incidents - she had learned to connect his present in her space with sombre news, and it was the combination of all of this that made her stomach simultaneously drop and begin twisting itself into complicated knots.

“Hello Poppy,” Dumbledore said, his bright blue eyes piercing her own gaze; Poppy was quite certain that the Headmaster could peer into her thoughts, though she’d yet to be able to prove it, and meeting his eyes always gave her a sudden chill. “I was hoping that the three of us could perhaps speak about the upcoming term? Is there somewhere we could go?”

Poppy bobbed her head up and down, wondering if she had slipped up somewhere and this was the end of her dreams. Though she could not think of any serious mistakes that had been made this year, or even in her entire career at Hogwarts, this did not stop her mind from immediately spinning out a scenario in which she was suddenly fired from the job she’d longed for since she was twelve years old.

“M-my office,” she offered, leading the other two through the side door into the smaller space. Her office was smaller than most members of staff, as she was typically entirely by herself and most of the space was dedicated to various herbs and potions, and at first, she was uncertain as to how they would fit inside.

Dumbledore waved his wand, pushing the cabinets and desk against the far wall and, with another wave, conjured two chairs that matched her own. The three settled into place, quiet as they sat. Poppy kept looking back and forth between the two, imagining only the worst possible options.

“Now, Poppy, I don’t know if Minerva has told you this yet -”

“How could I have, when you’ve only just offered the position yesterday? Not to mention I haven’t even accepted it yet.”

“ _Yet_ ,” Dumbledore replied with a knowing smile. “The truth of the matter is that Hogwarts is in need of a Deputy Head, what with our current one departing later this month and I could not think of anyone more qualified than Minerva.”

“I could,” replied the young woman. “It was bad enough you made me the Head of Gryffindor after only a year, Albus, but I’m one of the newest teachers here - why not Horace or Filius or Pomona?”

“As I said, I could not imagine anyone more qualified.” The bearded man folded his hands in his laps, looking rather cheerily around the small room as though unperturbed by the confusion of his colleagues. “But as I have no doubt Minerva will be accepting this offer as soon as she comes to her senses, I thought it best to have this discussion all at once, the three of us together.”

“Discussion?” Poppy echoed, realising suddenly that her throat was quite dry. She was quite pleased with the idea of her friend becoming the newest Deputy Head but could see very little in how that connected to her own position. “Sorry, perhaps I’m misunderstanding - a discussion about _what_ , exactly?”

“It’s simple, really. I make a habit of looking at the new students list every now and then, to gather an idea of who will be joining us soon, and as we are currently out a Deputy Head, I thought it proper to take over the duty of sending and receiving acceptance letters for the summer - at least until Minerva sees sense.”

“ _Albus_ ,” snapped the Scottish witch, though she was not so much annoyed as equally bewildered at the situation. 

“Yes, of course. Well, you see, I’ve already received a rejection letter from one of the names on the list of students who should be beginning this year - you might well recognise the name, Minerva, his father worked at the Ministry for a few years of overlap with you. _Remus Lupin_ , the son of John Lupin?”

Minerva frowned. “I vaguely recall it. I believe he worked in the Beasts division, though, and I tended not to collaborate with them very frequently. You say his father already sent back a refusal letter? Have you even sent anything out yet?”

“That’s where my confusion began, actually, as it were - I was intending to wait until tomorrow morning to begin, and yet here I was, a week prior to the term’s end, with a rejection letter on my desk. Naturally, I had no choice but to seek out why.”

“Naturally,” replied Poppy and Minerva together; they had worked with Albus Dumbledore long enough to know he was a rather strange man whose behaviours were often beyond explanation and for which the headaches were rarely worth untangling.

“Here’s the long and short of it - the boy’s parents were rather reluctant to allow young Mr Lupin to be educated here at Hogwarts due to his unusual medical condition. They felt that being so far away from their home would put him at serious risk and they were unwilling to put him under such stress when he could, in theory, be educated just as easily at home - though I can’t help but make my feelings clear on the matter that the education he would be receiving here at Hogwarts would be far more substantial than learning at the kitchen table.”

Poppy felt her ears turn red as she imagined a child being denied a proper education just because of an illness. She had dealt with a number of young patients in her short career that were permanently injured or sick in some manner, including a few students with manageable, albeit incurable, conditions and she could not think of any such ailment that would prevent anyone who wanted to from seeking out a fulfilling academic career at Hogwarts.

“Absolutely not!” she said, hardly aware that she had jumped to her feet. “I hope you pressed it upon his parents the importance of a well-rounded education - of the opportunities that Hogwarts provides, not just in terms of schooling but in order to make him a more well-rounded person. How will he learn to work with others if he is never around anyone but his own family?”

Minerva, too, was scowling at the thought; she was often first in line to protect the needs of the many students of Hogwarts and Poppy could only imagine that she was equally annoyed by the idea of a feasibly manageable medical condition stopping anyone from being able to walk these hallowed halls.

Dumbledore smiled at them both, seeming pleased as he clapped his hands together. “I was hoping you would agree. The truth of the matter is that I have already convinced the Lupins to allow young Remus to learn here, under a few conditions. I will need to consult with some outside sources about how to best go about this, but I don’t see why there should be any reason why Remus could not finish out his full seven years with us.”

Poppy and Minerva shared another look; she was still not quite sure why Dumbledore had decided to gather them in her office to discuss this matter. Yes, she was Matron and she would do everything in her power to help this student, but was this not typically the sort of information she received a touch closer to the beginning of the term?

As Dumbledore Vanished the two chairs, she could not help but call out to him, curiosity getting the better of her.

“If you don’t mind my asking, what condition is it exactly that Mr Lupin has that’s caused his parents such concern?”

If it were possible for them to do so, the Headmaster’s eyes seemed to glitter brighter than they usually did. “Why, lycanthropy, Madam Pomfrey. Young Mr Lupin is a werewolf - one of the youngest surviving ones I’ve ever encountered. Does that change your opinion on the matter at all?”

She met his eyes and was once more hit by the sensation that he was looking into her thoughts, searching around for her true feelings now that she knew the full truth. But Poppy Pomfrey had sworn an oath the day she became a Healer - to help and never harm any person who came into her care, lycanthrope or not. 

Remus Lupin would, like so many students before and after him, become one of her patients; he was simply one that would need a touch more help than the average pupil who came into the Hospital Wing.

“It makes no difference to me,” she said, and next to her, Minerva took a deep breath and said much the same. “He’ll be a student here and it is my job to care for him accordingly, no matter who they are.”

And the truth was that the two women meant it - absolutely and entirely.


End file.
